In most office settings, a plurality of computing devices or hosts are inter-connected through a network, for example, a local area network (LAN). Such hosts can include, for instance, personal computers (PCs), network servers, and the like. Normally, many or all of these hosts comprise devices that are directly connected to the hosts. Such devices can include, for example, disk drives, tape drives, tape libraries, modems, etc.
It is often useful for the network manager and/or technician to know what hosts are connected to the network and what devices are connected to these hosts. For instance, this information is useful in maintaining an inventory of the network devices. However, it can be difficult to keep track of all the devices connected to the network, particularly where the network is large and comprises many different hosts. Presently, the existence of such devices is determined by manually scanning each host of the network separately. Once each host has been scanned in this manner, the various devices can be located from a central point and, if desired, can be accessed for use from this central point or from another point in the network.
Clearly, the procedure described above can be time-consuming, especially where the network is large. Therefore, it would be desirable to have a system and method for detecting devices connected to the network from a central control point so as to simplify and at least partially automate the device detection procedure.